Lachie - sorry to hear of all your misfortunes but you always seem to keep a very positive mindset which is a huge credit to you.
As always Port put on a great event. The vollies are amazing and can never do enough for you all weekend. You can quickly get used to be treating like royalty which is always hard when you get home and anticipate the same level of service from the wife who has been home for five days with the kids 😬
This was the first IM I have been to without family there but on course you certainly don't feel alone and the crowd and athlete support is uplifting and encouraging.
The course definitely challenges those who haven't put in the work. The bike course still needs care as there are some rough areas when you aren't always expecting them. One of the bridges (I think near Lake Cathie) was at the bottom of a quick descent and was pretty lumpy and quickly woke you out of any mental slumber.
My only grumble would be that a lot of the bidons I picked up (electrolyte) were only half full which made keeping the fluids up a lot harder. Not sure the reasoning for doing this unless most people drink and discard on the way through but when you are picking up to fill up a front bottle on course it's not enough fluids to get you through.
All said I will be heading back again next year. Great to see a few trannies in town and on course, sorry to not get chance to cross paths with more.
